Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Kansas Launches Ethanol Blender Pump Program

Motorists in Kansas will soon have an opportunity to learn how well their flex fuel vehicles (FFV) will perform on blends of ethanol higher than the existing E10.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture is launching a pilot program that will allow fueling stations to install pumps that dispense a variety of higher ethanol blends. Motorists will choose what blend they want at the pump.

All vehicles on the road today can use E10 and Flexible Fuel Vehicles can use blends up to E85. Almost all gas stations in Kansas dispense E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. The pumps authorized under the pilot project will allow flexible-fuel vehicle owners to purchase blends such as E20, E30, E50 or E85.

Similar programs are available in Minnesota and South Dakota. Others states are looking at blender pumps as well. And the U.S. Department of Transportation is testing how well regular-fuel vehicles perform on the mid-blends of ethanol, and could endorse blends higher than E10.

1 comment:

Non-flex-fuel vehicles can use E20 and E30, too, with no adverse effects. I know people who have been filling their non-flex-fuel vehicles for years with E30 that they blended themselves. In fact, there is evidence (supported by personal observations, as well as http://www.ethanol.org/news/index.php?newsid=25) that vehicles get better gas mileage using these higher blends of ethanol than E10, E85, or unblended gasoline.